Big Easy Startups hit the Big Apple for Tech Conference

When you think of hubs for tech startups in America, the first cities that come to mind are arguably San Francisco and New York City. The startup community in New Orleans is trying to change that perception, and they had some luck this week at TechCrunch Disrupt in New York.

This week, the six companies that participated in New Orleans’ first seed accelerator, Launch Pad Ignition, traveled to the Big Apple for TechCrunch Disrupt, a well-known conference hosted by the most popular tech blog out there, TechCrunch. The companies set up in Startup Alley and got the opportunity to demo their products and meet with investors from across the country.

Chris Schultz, co-founder of Launch Pad and Launch Pad Ignition, said touring up to New York and out to the West Coast is part of Ignition’s continued strategy.

“The audience that comes to the conference are investors, so our hope is to get more exposure to angel investors and help get the guys funded,” Schultz said.

For Ben Lavender of Dydra, a database-as-a-cloud service, the conference gave him the opportunity to get on stage with Paul Graham, a famous computer programmer and venture capitalist, and essentially pitch his company to the entire room and to thousands of online viewers. Lavender said the conference was a great venue for the Ignition companies and they all put the lessons learned during the accelerator to good use.

“We have been able to capitalize on the main benefit of the Launch Pad Ignition program, which is how we tell the story of what our business does. This is the culmination. Launch Fest was the recital,” Lavender said. “Three sentences is often all you get.”

Lavender added that while tech companies like his still face challenges by being in New Orleans, they are not insurmountable.

“[Investors] expect to hear we’re based in New York or San Francisco. It doesn’t mean New Orleans can’t work. Just have to explain it, that cost of living is dramatically lower, that we have no problem recruiting talent to come here, and that we will have people in the tech hubs,” he said.

Schultz said he hopes that New Orleans’ presence at conferences such as Disrupt will show investors and the larger community that New Orleans is producing talented and successful products and companies.

“It’s interesting because most of the tech world is on the West Coast and in New York. It is unique to have companies from New Orleans and I think TechCrunch recognizes the importance of, from an economic standpoint, developing these companies and growing new businesses down here,” Schultz said.

One New Orleans company enjoyed a lot of success at the Disrupt conference. InvoicesASAP, which allows companies to create and send invoices from a mobile phone, launched at Disrupt and made it to the final round of the pitch-off competition, Startup Battlefield. You can watch their presentation here.

Next stop on the tour for the Ignition companies is the Bay Area, which they will hit next month.

Catherine Lyons writes about the New Orleans entrepreneur community for NolaVie. Follow her on Twitter: twitter.com/clyonsinNOLA. For more information on NolaVie, visit NolaVie.com.